Attitudes and Perceptions

Rev. Barbara Brown, an Episcopal priest, writes
about taking a group of kids from her downtown Atlanta
parish on a mission trip to a rural Kentucky area. They spent a
week at Barnes Mountain helping convert an abandoned
farmhouse into a new mission. By the end of the first day, the
city-slickers were joined by three local teenagers, including a
terrific kid named Dwayne.
Dwayne and the Atlanta teenagers immediately
established a fast friendship. He was as fascinated with their
stories as they were with his. Dwayne and his new friends
worked together, played together, ate together, and, prayed
together.
On the final day, Dwayne joined the kids and the Rev.
Taylor for a Eucharist. The kids were deeply moved by the
Appalachian experience. Prayers were offered for the poor;
and many expressed their thanks for the privilege of serving
the poor people of Barnes Mountain. However, after the
service, Dwayne‘s whole attitude and demeanor changed.
Rev. Taylor asked Dwayne what was wrong!
―You all called me poor! I swear, I never thought of
myself that way until you said it! I have all these woods to
run around in. I have a grandmama and granddaddy who love
me. I got a whole shed of rabbits I can play with any time I
want. Does that sound poor to you? It don‘t sound poor to
me! You all should save your prayers for someone who needs
them!‖
The Rev. Brown writes of the incident: ―No one meant to
hurt him, but our language gave us away. We thought of the
poor as people other than ourselves. We separated ourselves
from Dwayne in our prayers, and our partiality stung him to
the quick. By setting him apart like that, we withheld the one
thing he really wanted from us, which was to belong – to be a
member of a community, not just a mission project!‖
Unfortunately, our attitudes and perceptions often reduce
people who don‘t ―fit‖ our image, as ―lepers‖ – lepers who are
left outside our gates, relegated to the margins of our
communities and society! Our attitudes reduce people who
don‘t ―fit‖ our image as ―lepers‖ who are reduced to labels and
stereotypes, who are rejected as too ―unclean‖ to be a part of
our lives and our world! How sad!
The Christ who heals lepers comes to perform a much
greater miracle! He comes to heal us of our debilitating sense
of self that fails to realize the sacredness and dignity of those
whom we demean as ―lepers‖ at our own gates!